Some NFL Team Had a Private Eye Follow Baker Mayfield
SI – The two most common words used to describe Baker Mayfield’s pro day? Poorly timed. That’s not a critique of Mayfield; Oklahoma held their annual showcase of outgoing football talent on Wednesday, the day free agency officially began in the NFL, meaning most front offices and coaching staffs were hunkered in team facilities, hosting free agents or building out 2018 rosters over the phone. …
Yes, Mayfield threw the football (against air, without a defense), and we’ll get to that. But the biggest happenings were behind the scenes. …
[O]n Tuesday, Mayfield received an alert from a trusted source that he had a tail in Norman. A private investigator, he was told, was tracking his movements on behalf of a team. The MMQB was unable to verify the identity of that team, but it should come as no surprise that any NFL franchise considering a (minimum) four-year commitment and tens of millions of dollars to a 22-year-old might like to know how he spends nights near his old stomping grounds.
Whatever else the draft pundit in all of us thinks about Baker Mayfield’s strengths and weakness – his accuracy vs. his lack of height, his stats vs. the fact he was running a spread, his ability to make plays out of structure vs. his holding the ball to long, etc. – you have to admit this is a pretty badass thing to have on his pre-draft resume. A man so dangerous that an NFL team hired a private dick to tail him.
First of all, I need to know which team is was. He’s been generally slated to go to the Jets at No. 6 in most mocks. Maybe they got the report from Magnum and didn’t like what they saw so they signed Teddy Bridgewater. John Elway was at his Pro Day and their sitting at No. 5 so maybe it was Denver. We’ll probably never know.
Second, I’d like to know what the PI found, and if it’s good or bad. Mayfield’s been arrested before for a drunk & disorderly in Arkansas. And while I don’t want my future franchise quarterback sleeping one off in the county drunk tank, if I’m the NFL team in question, I want a little of that. Not to Johnny Manziel levels, but I’m looking for a natural leader. An Alpha. At 22-years-old I want a guy who’s taking advantage of the fact he’s the biggest deal in Norman, OK, about to strike it rich and laying miles of pipe. Not some timid soul who sits at home every night reading Dylan Thomas by the fireplace.
With any luck the very idea someone felt they had to have him followed will scare off the less established GMs and somehow Mayfield will drop in Aaron Rodgers/Brady Quinn-like fashion. Because any guy who’s been tailed by a private eye before he’s reached the age of 23 is a guy who can play for me.